The present invention relates in general to means for controlling the dispensing cycle of a dispensing machine, and relates, more particularly to control of a dispensing machine which dispenses a product such as instant potatoes or the like wherein there is provided essentially separate control for water flow and product flow.
In dispensing a product such as potatoes, it is common to provide a pre-rinse period wherein only water flows followed by a main portion of the cycle wherein both water and product flow to an end of the cycle. The main portion of the cycle is, of course, significantly longer than the pre-rinse portion. For some applications it is desirable to provide for dispensing of a larger portion of the product. In this case, it is common to simply extend the main portion of the dispensing cycle without substantially effecting the pre-rinse portion or any post rinse portion. However, the end product has not had a totally desirable consistency using this approach of simply extending the main portion of the cycle. Instead, in accordance with the present invention, the timer includes means responsive to the termination of the basic cycle for repeating the basic cycle a predetermined number of times depending upon the desired final portion.
Accordingly, one important object of the present invention is to provide a timer for use in controlling the dispensing cycle for a product to provide improved control of the portion of the product that is being dispensed. In accordance with the present invention, a setting can be made which is readily adjustable to set the desired portion to be dispensed from the dispensing machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for controlling a dispensing cycle so as to permit alternatively a positive or negative post-rinse period; positive when the product flow stops first and negative when the water flow stops first. It has been found that depending upon the type of potato that is being dispensed, it may be desirable to provide either termination of the product, or termination of the water a predetermined time after termination of the product, which predetermined time is adjustable in increments of, for example, 0.2 seconds.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved timer for controlling a dispensing cycle which provides time period adjustability for substantially all portions of the cycle, including the pre-rinse portion, the product and water portions, the post-rinse portion, whether positive or negative, and also the overall total cycle when a repeating cycle is used for larger portions.